Duke coach apologizes for schedule

DURHAM — Duke football coach David Cutcliffe is apologizing for his team’s schedule.

Not who the undefeated Blue Devils play, but when they’re playing this week.

That’s because the game against visiting Miami comes Friday night at Wallace Wade Stadium. That’s a time that’s best reserved for high school football, the veteran coach said.

“I don’t like the fact that Friday night football exists (for colleges) because it should be for high schools,” Cutcliffe said. “I apologize to all the high school programs. But if we are going to do it and do it contractually, we need to do it right.”

The game’s scheduling is a result of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s television package with ESPN.

That’s something Cutcliffe can’t control.

“No college team should play Friday but I can’t live in la la land,” he said.

Cutcliffe said that most students on Duke’s campus probably don’t attend high school games, so this is a chance for something different on a Friday night.

“We want our people to respond. I think it’s going to be fun for the campus,” Cutcliffe said. “We’re going to view it as an incredible opportunity to get our people to rally around. … I want to fill the stadium with people who aren’t going to a high school game.”

Perhaps a glimpse of the support the Blue Devils could receive from the campus community came last weekend when they returned from Chapel Hill, where they defeated North Carolina, and were greeted by raucous student support as team buses rolled onto campus.

“That’s a fun celebration,” Cutcliffe said. “I’ve got a feeling this Friday night is going to be an incredible atmosphere.”

This is the first Friday night home game for one of the three Triangle-based ACC teams (though North Carolina and North Carolina State have met on Fridays after Thanksgiving, though most high school teams have finished their seasons by then).

Two years ago, Wake Forest played a home game on a Friday night. N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest have all played Friday night road games in recent seasons as part of the ACC’s package.

Other ACC games on Friday nights — not counting the day after Thanksgiving when game times haven’t been set — this year come next month with Clemson going to Syracuse plus Florida State visiting Boston College (though Virginia played at Boise State on last Friday night).